Followed By Mercy
The Followed By Mercy Podcast
Real Grace, Honest Hope
You might notice a new name and a fresh look, but the heart behind this podcast is the same. After years as the World Evangelism Podcast, I sensed God leading me to a deeper, more personal path centered on His relentless mercy and the kind of honest hope that can reach into every hurting place. That’s why this show is now called Followed By Mercy Podcast. The format may shift, and the tone may be a bit more personal, but my mission hasn’t changed: I still believe the world desperately needs to hear the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ. You are welcome here if you’ve been with me from the beginning or just found us now.
What if God’s love is more personal, stubborn, and relentless than you ever imagined?
Welcome to The Followed By Mercy Podcast, where we get honest about pain, hope, and the kind of grace that finds you right where you are, five days a week. This isn’t about religious performance or church routines. It’s for anyone who’s ever felt worn out, unseen, or unsure if they belong in the story of God’s love. Every conversation is rooted in this reality: God loves you right now, just as you are, and He isn’t giving up on you.
Here’s what you’ll find in every episode:
Experience God’s Relentless Love
Every show starts by reminding you that the Shepherd knows your name, cares about your story, and isn’t offended by your failures or questions. This is personal—it’s about God’s unwavering affection for you.
Find Your Place in His Heart
Once you grasp how fiercely you’re loved, sharing that love with others doesn’t feel forced. It becomes the most natural thing in the world. Real grace overflows.
Prayer That Changes You
We pray together—not just for the world “out there,” but for the battles and hopes you’re carrying right now. These prayers are honest, rooted in Scripture, and meant for hearts that need a gentle touch from the Shepherd.
Discover Your Unique Role
Whether you’re called to go, give, serve, or show kindness in your corner of the world, God’s mercy meets you where you are. You’re not just a bystander. You are His beloved, invited into the story He’s writing.
When life knocks the wind out of you, this is a place to catch your breath. You’ll hear the encouragement that meets you on your hardest days, and your honest questions will be welcomed. No pretending, no heavy-handed advice—just the reminder that your Shepherd is right there with you, walking every step with you, even when you feel like giving up.
Why does this matter? Because some days, it feels like nobody sees you or cares what you’re going through. But the truth is, you have a Shepherd who never takes His eyes off you, lets you slip through the cracks, and never gives up on you. That kind of love can put you back on your feet, and it might be the hope someone else is waiting to see in you, too.
If you’re longing for more than just religious talk—if you want to know you’re not alone and that God’s mercy is following you all the way home, you’re in the right place. Whether you listen in the car, on a walk, or in a quiet moment, let every episode remind you: God’s mercy is after you right now, ready to bring real grace and honest hope.
Subscribe today and join a community to discover what happens when loved people become loving people. The journey’s just beginning, and there’s a place for you here.
Followed By Mercy
But God: Mercy, Grace, And Our Place In Christ
When “But God” breaks into a life, the cycle of shame, striving, and spiritual exhaustion finally meets a dead end. This episode walks through Ephesians 2 to show how God’s rich mercy and great love rewrite the story for people who feel stuck under guilt with no way out.
Episode overview
Two small words, “but God,” stand between who you were and who you are now in Christ. Together we trace the shift from being dead in sin to being made alive, raised, and seated with Christ, and why this changes how you see God, yourself, and everyday obedience.
From performance to union
Instead of treating obedience as an audition for God’s approval, we explore union with Christ as the heartbeat of salvation: crucified with Him, yet truly alive because He lives in us. These shared realities, made alive together, raised together, seated together, move motivation from fear and insecurity to rest, assurance, and a grateful response.
Hope for today and ages to come.
We then lift our eyes to the “ages to come,” where God intends to showcase the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. That future display anchors present confidence, reminding believers that the God who began this work of grace will not abandon them halfway. Expect a conversation that offers fresh hope, practical clarity, and the courage to say, with Paul, that the life you now live is by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you.
Thanks for listening. Find us on YouTube, Substack, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
Robert and I are here talking to you again today, and we have gone over Ephesians 1. We kind of gave a summary, and then we've talked about who we were. You want to say a word about that, Robert?
Robert Canfield:Well, if you were there yesterday and you heard about that, I mean, you could it says were, so it's past tense. That's good, right? That's right. But it is a heavy thing to think about. This is where we were. We were dead in our sins and trespasses. It's what we used to walk like. Yeah. And how we used to be in rebellion. It was it was pre-life conditions. It was dead conditions. And and that's not who we are anymore. And anytime I was around, anytime I've been around death, it stinks. So yeah, it does.
Austin Gardner:Yeah, it does. So now let's move into the present.
Robert Canfield:Yeah.
Austin Gardner:Chapter 2, verse 4, Ephesians chapter 2, verse 4. You want to read, just go ahead and read four through 2, 4 through 6.
Robert Canfield:I like how he so verse 3. Before I say that, get this. So verse 3, from verse 1 to verse 3, he had a period. Verse 1, 2, and 3. Period. Then he starts in verse 2. It says, but God. I think that's very interesting. Oh, I think we should emphasize that. Go ahead. The first sentence that he showed us in Ephesians 2. What verse are you in? I'm in verse 4. Okay. But verse 4. I thought you said 2. But in verse 4, but God. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I probably did say verse 2. Verses 1, verses 2, verses 3. It seems like it's one sentence. I mean, in the English, it has a period. But I know they have they have full ideas. He tells us we were dead in our sins. This is how we walked in time is past. It's who we were. It's who we were. Children of disobedience. And then verse 4 steps in. This is who we were. This is what this is the destitute spot. This is the dead spot.
Austin Gardner:Because I think God He told us who He made us now. He wanted us to see how we were. Yeah. So He could show. Because don't forget, what He's really trying to say here is, is not my grace amazing. Yeah. He's trying to get the praise marvelous.
Robert Canfield:According to His was it the riches of His grace? Isn't that what he said? That's right. Then he says, verse 4 But God. Not but man, not but Rob, not but Austin, but God. It's not but Rob's faith. It's not but Rob's ability to hold on. It's not but Rob's It's certainly not the church and not religion. It's not church. It's not religion. It's not morality. It's not an institution. It's not my holiness. No. He says, but God.
Austin Gardner:Not the way I dress, not the way I walk, not the way I talk.
Robert Canfield:But God. God. And then he tells who God is, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us.
Austin Gardner:Can you not see how great his love was? You see what he made you, Ephesians 1. See how bad off you were, Ephesians 2, 1 through 3, and see he still loved you.
Robert Canfield:He still loved. And it was that love that causes this wonderful thing that he does. He quickens us. He brings us to life.
Austin Gardner:Well, you know, God who is rich in mercy. I don't think we can move past where he loved us without realizing that God committed his love toward us while we were yet since Christ died for us.
Robert Canfield:Huh.
Austin Gardner:I don't think we can go any further without saying, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. In other words, we've got to realize there was a tremendous cost to the God of heaven.
Robert Canfield:Well, it was a tremendous cost, but Paul writes, he says he's rich in mercy. And we just think of love, but he says, for his great love. Not just a little bit of love. Not just a little bit of tolerance. That's a good point. He says, his great, that's many, that's much, his greatly, his oftentimes. It's a it's a great number, it's extensive. That's what he's trying to get at right here. His great love. He loved us. It just goes back to everything in our life, goes back to the nature of God. Yeah. And understanding. Look at this.
Austin Gardner:He loved us when we were dead in sin.
Robert Canfield:Yeah.
Austin Gardner:When did he show rich mercy? When did he love us?
Robert Canfield:When I was walking according to the world. That's right. When I was being blinded by the prince of the power of the air and doing whatever he said, when I was fulfilling my lusts and my desires, when I was a child of wrath.
Austin Gardner:When I was doing all the bad stuff in Ephesians 2, 1 through 3, he loved me. What kind of God would do that? Oh, the great God of heaven. Well, He while we were dead in sin, and then He gave us life, He has quickened us together with Christ. By grace. He wants it to be clear.
Robert Canfield:By grace, are you saved? We think that we're grace. Like we have a weird, weird way of like of thinking of grace. And sometimes there's like we have multiple ways of thinking grace. But grace is nothing more than just a charitable gift that we can't do anything to earn. Grace is nothing more than just total and utter reliance on like it is Paul having a thorn in the flesh and trying so hard to get out of it and praying. And he's like, I I can't do anything. I can't do anything. But God, who is rich in grace, he he enables me, he helps me. It's it's his it was his in his weakness. God was gracious. It was it was being totally enabled, enabled to do anything. We can't earn it. There is no earning out there. There's no there's no reward system that I can do in order to get this. It is nothing more than just a gracious, loving, sweet God who has great love towards us and rich in mercy. And he says, I give you this gift.
Austin Gardner:And you know why God loves you too? Because he is love. That's right. He loves you because that's his character. In other words, to describe love, you say God. And to tell you who God is, God is love. And so that ought to change everything. And he quickened us together with Christ. So what what he did, he see, Christ was dead. Remember, he died on a cross and he was buried. But when he raised Jesus from the dead, we were there in Christ. I think we want to go back through in our mind in Christ, Ephesians 1 and 2 so far, in Christ. The faithful in Christ Jesus, chosen in Christ. It's in Jesus all the way through. And he wants us to realize the union we have with Christ. So salvation, maybe death was separation. Salvation is being put together again. Salvation is being put in Christ. Salvation is God making us one of Him.
Robert Canfield:Now being in Christ, He's quickened us, He's given us life. Like just even thinking about that makes me think of Jesus that I come that they might have life and might have it more abundant. Like when you think of Jesus and you think of following Him, sometimes we've turned it into like it's like a system of like it's just constant failure and failure and failure.
Austin Gardner:There's no way to remind people that they don't deserve to be a child of God. Yeah. Which no one, it's not in scripture. And and and you don't do it, who would do that? You don't deserve to be my son. Well, usually it's people that's trying to bring people under bondage, right?
Robert Canfield:Put them under fear.
Austin Gardner:They honestly what they're trying to do is manipulate morality. They're trying to cause people to live right, according to what they see. And so they're living by the flesh. They're living, we I've done it a million times. We were doing what the Pharisees did. We're like, you got to not do wrong. Here's the law of what God said. Let's build a fence around it. Let's help you realize so you won't mess up. So is it almost like using like a fear-based? It's fear-based, not faith-based. And and it's manipulation, not motivation. It is crushing weight. Come under me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. But most of us never get to him. We live in stress, not rest.
Robert Canfield:So when I hear messages like that, I always come away defeated. I always I always feel just because you don't measure up. Well, I know it. But but like that's the problem. You already do know it. You you we need to hear some good news. Well, that's what, yeah, and that's and that's that's what Paul's telling us. He's like, there was no hope before God. But because there's a God who's rich in mercy and has great love, he loved us and he saved us by his grace. And now he's given us a life, which now should spring forth inside my heart and inside my mind and my soul of like, I can do this. Not me, but he can do it through me. I understand he's working. We we've got a life together. We've got we've got a great future ahead of us. And so many times when, and I don't mean to pick on people, or I'm not picking on any preacher or anything like that, but I listen to messages, and it's like I come away from feeling defeated, and I'm not built up. But yet wherever Christ is, where there's charity, where there's true charity, he builds up people.
Austin Gardner:Well, here's what he said in Ephesians chapter 2. He said he quickened us and made us alive with Christ. Then he said he raised us up together. So when he raised Jesus, he raised us and he made us sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Meditate on that.
Robert Canfield:The maid is past tense too, right? Yep, it's already happened. It's not I'm going to put you into heavenly places. It's us. He said together. So together would be us, y'all, the people that are believers in Christ Jesus. And Jesus, he's raised us both up, and he has us sitting together in Christ Jesus in heaven.
Austin Gardner:In heavenly places. All right, but before we go much further, and you've said it, but let's remind everybody about God. It's all God. It's all God who's done everything. He's giving us life. It's pure grace, pure grace, and he has resurrected us. Which is that breaks me go back to Romans 6, 4, which you hear preached all the time at baptisms, that he has raised us to walk in newness of life. But that's what he did because we were dead, and now we're alive, and we can walk in a new life, not the life of following our own minds and our own hearts and who we were and that rebellious, because that's not who we are anymore.
Robert Canfield:We're not children of disobedience anymore. That's right. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live. That's right. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
Austin Gardner:So he had raised us and made us sit in heavenly places. So you already have victory. He has raised us past tense, made us past tense, sit together in heavenly places. So in Christ, you already have victory.
Robert Canfield:In Christ, you have victory. In Christ, you have a future that is incredible. Well, can I just change one thing you said there? It's not just a future. It's right now. It's a present. It's a present understanding, but he says this he says that the ages to come, so that in ages, he's making us sit in in Christ right now, so that in ages to come he will show the exceeding richness.
Austin Gardner:That's going to be our next podcast. But that's exactly right. It is God showing off. And he's going to get the glory. See? And he's going to use us. And in the verse you just read, how's it where did it go? I just lost it. Verse 7. That in the ages to come, he may show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. So is that where you got to realize, boy, we were one messed up bunch. We were dead.
Robert Canfield:There was no hope. But now, because of a merciful, great loving God, He's given us life. He's sitting us in heavenly places at this moment, so that in the future, people are going to look at us and say, Your God's awesome.
Austin Gardner:I wonder if in heaven God will just walk around and say, Look at what look what I did saving you. Look where you were.
Robert Canfield:You think, you know, when I'm reminded that so it popped up my mind, Solomon builds a temple and God shows up and he's actually dwelling inside the temple. Yep. And God blesses Solomon so much so that the world knows about it. And the the woman, the queen from Sheba, right? She she comes, queen the queen of Sheba. I think that's right. She says the half has not been told. She said, Yeah, I had, I mean, everything I've heard ain't half as much as she was. She came and she was like, This is incredible. She was glorifying obviously God's work through Solomon and Israel at that moment, right? And so all the wealth and all the wisdom and all the greatness that that caused the entire world to flock to Jerusalem just to see this wonderful king. I just makes me think as almost like an illustration of the story that one day people around the world, probably in the future, will get to see us, God's God's church, Christ's church in Christ, looking and saying, You did that, Jesus? You did that? That's incredible. That's right. The half has not been told how wonderful, how amazing you are. It's something to live for, it's something to be hopeful for.
Austin Gardner:So uh so we are already enjoying our eternal life. We are already seated in heavenly places, we're already raised up to walk in the nest of life. We are totally different because of what Jesus did. And I take you back to but God. Because I want you to remember it was but God that did all that. You know, seeing final words for today's podcast. No, this has been it's it's been incredibly encouraging for me. It's exciting. And I I don't I'll just be honest with you. Robert and I are just reading the verses. We don't really have a lot of good words to say ourselves. All we're doing is say what the Bible says. And it's good enough. Amen. Well, thank you for listening. Invite somebody along the journey.
